A Theory of the Obvious
by Amalgam000
Summary: Emily and Hotch are making a big deal out of a simple affectionate gesture. But nothing is ever simple when it comes to Hotch, is it?
1. Chapter 1

A Theory of the Obvious

Summary: Emily and Hotch are making a big deal out of a simple affectionate gesture. But nothing is ever simple when it comes to Hotch, is it?

Rated K+ (very slight innuendos)

Set season 5 of later, no spoilers

Author's notes: Well, I'm back, and with yet another one of those UST/straightforward conversation stories! Apparently I can't make Hotch and Emily go past that stage even in my mind just yet, but don't worry, I'm sure it'll come soon enough :-) This was supposed to be a light and funny story about Emily being completely clueless and JJ making her see the light, but at one point the story got a mind of its own and demanded that I return a little closer to canon. In any case, I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Prentiss, JJ or Hotch, I don't own CM, basically I don't own anything and this is for entertainment only.

On a side note, my stories so far have not been betaread (I apologize for that!), but I'd like to have someone do it for my future stories since English is not my first language, so if you like my stories and would like to betaread, feel free to contact me! Thanks! :-)

Now, on with the story...

* * *

**A Theory of the Obvious**

Emily decided that going out for food and drinks was the best idea that JJ had ever had. At first it was supposed to be a team thing, but then Hotch desisted himself respectfully, Morgan decided instead to call that woman who had left him a number a few days before, Reid got caught up in a call from his mother, and then seeing that the boys were chickening out, Dave made up some excuse that Emily couldn't remember. That left Garcia, who after getting back at the BAU found that Kevin was waiting for her with a big surprise apparently waiting for her at home.

So that left JJ and Emily, for a girls' night out. They opted for a small, cozy Irish pub where guys would be too distracted watching soccer or whatever to pay too much attention to them. Because after the last few days, the last thing Emily needed was complicated male attention.

JJ was speaking quietly on the phone as they found a booth in a corner and picked up their menus. She hung up and threw her phone in her purse just as Emily picked her choice of beer. "So Em, what's up with you and Hotch? Did you fight or something?"

Emily fought a quick moment of panic at the realization that the others had noticed. Of course they had noticed, how could she ever have imagined that they wouldn't? She tried to school her surprise into a more neutral expression as she scanned her menu. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, there's so much tension between the two of you, you could short-circuit the Hoover building."

Emily smiled. "Oh please, it's not _that _bad." It really wasn't.

"Ah ha! So you do admit that there's tension!"

Emily sighed and leaned back against the back of her seat. "It's nothing… It's just-"

Her confession was happily delayed as a waitress materialized at their side. They both ordered, but Emily could feel JJ's intrigued gaze on her. It's not that she didn't want to tell her about what happened; if she was honest with herself she was dying to tell someone and get an objective second opinion, but it was still kind of a delicate matter. She would have to thread carefully. So once they were alone again, Emily leaned closer over the table.

"Okay. Something really strange happened yesterday," she said in a low voice, so that JJ had to lean over as well to hear over the pub's background noise.

"Strange?"

"_Extremely_ strange, as in, parallel universe kind of strange."

At that precise moment, Emily knew that JJ was hooked. "What happened?"

"Right after we caught Brandon yesterday, Hotch, he um… he … touched my hair."

Emily almost laughed at JJ's expression, it was clear that she had not been expecting _that_, but she was still too confused by the situation to find it funny.

"He touched your hair?" JJ repeated, as if to make sure that she'd heard her right.

Emily nodded. "Well, not so much touched as… actually _stroked_ my hair."

"What?"

"I know! It was so uncharacteristic of him that sometimes I think I must have imagined it, or got stung by a bee on crack or something."

"Oh no, I've felt the tension, Em. It definitely happened."

Emily shook her head in complete befuddlement. "But _why_?"

"You have no idea? You're a behavior analyst, you didn't look for clues in his demeanor?"

"No! He completely took me by surprise, I didn't even think to ask. I mean, Hotch is definitely not a tactile person, especially not when it comes to his emotions, right? How often have you seen him impulsively touch someone to show his affection, except for his son?"

"Or his wife?"

"JJ, you're not helping!" She _so_ did not want to go there.

The annoying little blonde chuckled, and raised her hands in defense. "Okay, maybe you're reading too much into this. Why don't you tell me the whole story?"

"And now it comes out, you just want to hear the gory details, don't you?" Emily teased, and JJ was quick to retort.

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for romance."

"Romance? JJ I hardly think this qualifies as romance."

"Let me be the judge of that. Come on, spill it out."

* * *

The sun was hot and bright and relentless. Emily had to swipe the sweat off her forehead as she exited the UNSUB's barn, closely tailing Morgan and Dave who had the said UNSUB in handcuffs and reluctantly walking, kicking and screaming, between the two. It had been a close call, but at last, _at last_, they had got him, and had managed to save his latest victim. The terrified but (in all appearance) physically healthy young woman was surrounded by Hotch, JJ and Reid, and Emily smiled at the picture they were forming; the fierce protector who made anyone around him feel utterly safe or utterly intimidated, the innocent woman who appeared at once motherly and childlike so that everyone trusted her at first glance, and the strange young man who charmed everybody with his gentle awkwardness.

As Morgan and Rossi placed the reluctant criminal at the back of the police car, Emily walked to their SUV and pulled out a water bottle out of their supply.

"Alison is going to be okay," Hotch said at her side and Emily startled at the sound of his voice; she didn't hear him coming. She recovered quickly and, after noticing the tiny beads of sweat that covered his forehead, handed him a bottle as well. No wonder he was hot with that sun and that tie around his neck. He nodded his thanks.

"That's good. I'm glad. Her family on the way?"

He nodded, his dark sunglasses directed down at her. "They're going to meet her at the hospital. JJ and Reid are going to ride with her on the ambulance."

Emily nodded as she took another swig. "Where do you want the rest of us?"

"Back at the station, to finish the reports and gather statements."

Emily nodded, starting to undo the Velcro ties at the bottom of her vest, but as she pulled it over her head, she must have done something weird, because her ponytail got stuck somewhere in there, and she couldn't pull the vest completely over her head without some real painful tugging. For an embarrassing moment she just stood there, her head hidden into the vest, unmoving except for trying to pull sharply enough at the damn thing to free her hair. A second later, gentle fingers were carefully disentangling the mess and finally Emily was able to totally get the vest completely over her head. And that's when it happened. Just as she was straightening up, she realized that his fingers were still in her hair, and she could swear that he looked right at her face through his sunglasses as his fingers lingered and slowly stroked their way down her ponytail, barely brushing against the back of her neck in the process.

Everything seemed to freeze for two interminable seconds, but then the time dilation fluke passed and everything returned to normal. Including the location of Hotch's fingers around his water bottle, his conversation about the case and the hot and bright and relentless sun.

But not before she had seen the guilt on his face.

* * *

"Wow."

Emily stopped her fork mid-way between her plate and her mouth and stared at JJ incredulously. "That's it? _Wow?_"

"I can't believe I was standing only a few feet away and didn't see anything!"

Emily smiled at JJ's highschool-ish petulance. "Well, it happened kind of fast, but as embarrassing as it was, I half wish you'd seen, then you could help me figure that undecipherable man out."

JJ took a sip of her drink, then nodded with new determination. "Alright. So had it been anyone else, I wouldn't make anything of it, but like you said, Hotch doesn't just do that sort of thing."

Emily nodded in agreement. "So what do you think it meant?"

JJ raised her shoulders in a helpless move. "You know what? You do have beautiful hair, maybe he just wondered what it felt like and when the opportunity to find out presented itself, he just… took it?"

"Maybe if you sounded a tiny bit more convinced yourself I'd actually buy it," Emily retorted sarcastically, then gave her a look. "Come on, let's hear it. What do you really think?"

JJ smiled, and after a long sigh put down her fork and rested her forearms on the table in a posture Emily knew meant business. "The obvious."

"Which is?"

"You really don't see it, do you? God, how do I say this?" She asked to no one in particular, before purposefully returning her gaze to Emily's. "I think… I think you two definitely had a moment there, and maybe you should start thinking about how it made _you_ feel, instead of why Hotch did it. Because, teasing aside, I don't think Hotch does anything on impulse. Emily, you'll just have to see what's been staring you right in the face: he's attracted to you, and he finally decided to let himself show it to you."

Emily shook her head. "JJ, I've worked with the man for _years_, and in all that time I've never seen anything that could lead me to believe that-"

"That's my point. Hotch has more control on his emotions and his impulses than anybody I know, and around you he tends to restrain himself even more."

"So you're saying he's distant around me because he's attracted to me?"

"Yes, and because he doesn't know how to deal with it."

"But now he's figured it out?"

"So it would seem."

"But if that's the case, why the guilt? Why give me the cold shoulder afterwards?'

JJ shrugged as her fingers returned to her fork. "And _you're_ supposed to be a profiler?" Emily just stared, so JJ went on. "I don't know. Maybe he's feeling unsecure, if you think about it, and if I'm right about this, you're one of the first women he showed an interest to besides Haley in like 20 years. He's got to have insecurities and doubts. Especially after what happened to them."

Emily smiled. "For some reasons the words 'Hotch' and 'insecure' don't sound right in the same sentence."

"Yeah well, he has doubts and emotions just like the rest of us, he just doesn't show them as much," JJ replied, the protective tone not escaping Emily's notice. She softened her smile.

"I know, JJ. I'm sorry, I care about him too, I'm just trying to make sense of a situation that I had never expected to happen." Emily had always considered Hotch as unreachable, as the one man she admired and trusted with her life but who was so far _out there_ that she had never really considered him within her reach beyond meaningless fantasies.

"Emily", JJ said, pulling her out of her reverie, "I gave you my opinion, but if you want real answers, you're going to have to ask him about it. I don't know how this makes you feel, but you're going to have to clear things up, because as much as I love the two of you, the team can't function when there's so much tension. So you tell Hotch that his actions were inappropriate and you're not interested, or that it's not a big deal since you touch your friends' hair everyday, or whatever, but sooner or later you're gonna have to talk to him about it."

JJ's gaze suddenly shifted from Emily's face to somewhere over her shoulder, but Emily didn't register her friend's expression until it was too late and JJ said: "And here comes your chance. Good luck."

* * *

Continued in chapter 2


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer in part 1

* * *

**Part 2**

Emily stared at JJ as the latter darted from the table, completely confused. That is until her eyes settled on the reason JJ had literally fled from her: the man they had been discussing had suddenly appeared beside their table. Hands in his pocket and a grave expression on his face, he stood for a moment, looking down at her.

Emily knew that she should say something, anything, but her mind was totally blank. The only thing she could think of was that she would make JJ pay for that phone call and very handsomely at that, and that she couldn't remember the last time that she had seen him in anything other than a suit and tie. And boy, he looked good! He was planning on making this difficult for her, wasn't he?

"Prentiss, may I join you?" he asked after a moment.

Emily cleared her throat and shook herself from her stupor. "Of course, sorry. Please, have a seat. Apparently JJ had somewhere to go…" she added under her breath.

Hotch sat in the seat JJ had just vacated and Emily found her stomach knotting anxiously as she felt his intense gaze on her. She smiled nervously. "I didn't think you would change your mind."

He raised a surprised eyebrow, making Emily realize how that might sound considering what he was probably here to talk about. So she quickly amended herself. "I mean about joining us for dinner."

"Oh, yes. Well, I was driving home and I, um… I realized that there was something I wanted, or rather that I needed to say to you."

Emily had never thought that she would see it, but there it was: an unsecure Hotch. And it was kind of endearing. God help her if JJ had been wrong about this, because with him sitting in front of her and in a soft-looking sweater no less, the idea was seriously beginning to register. And apparently her body agreed, just like it had at the feather light touch of his fingers as they had trailed down the back of her neck. In that interminable second, her entire body had felt like it was melting, and it wasn't because of the hot and bright and relentless sun.

Emily smiled in relief as she nodded her understanding. "Yes, I know. It's been… tense."

He seemed relieved that she wasn't pretending not to know what he was talking about, pushing JJ's almost untouched plate to the side and joining his hands together on the table. "Yes, precisely. What I came to say, is that I'm aware that I'm responsible for that tension, and I would like to apologize."

Emily wasn't sure what she felt as she heard the words so she stayed silent and gave him a quick nod, encouraging him to say more.

"I know that my actions were highly inappropriate."

Emily imitated his position, leaning a bit forward in the process. "Hotch, it's not a big deal. Really."

"No Prentiss, it is. And I'll understand completely if you decide to file a sexual harassment complaint."

Emily's eyes widened in horror. "Hotch, what the hell? The thought never even entered my mind! And you must know by now that if I had a problem with you I would have the courtesy to say it to your face!" she replied, angry that he would even suggest it.

He lowered his head at this, but she could almost swear that she saw a brief smile on his lips. At that moment Emily decided that the man was a complete mystery to her.

"Yes, you're right," he said as he returned his gaze to her, no sign of the smile she thought she had just glimpsed. "Again, I apologize."

Emily held his impenetrable gaze for a few more seconds, before deciding to push the issue a little. "Now that that's settled… there is one thing I'd like to know."

He gave her a curt nod and crossed his arms over his chest, the defensive gesture not going unnoticed to her trained eyes. She made sure that she had caught his gaze before asking the big question. "Why? What made you do it?"

For a moment he just returned her stare, pursing his lips to the extent that it showed his dimples, as if he was patiently debating with himself how to answer her question. He hadn't even blinked, so Emily leaned closer over the table and lowered her voice. "Hotch, you stroked my hair in broad daylight while we were on the clock, and if it were anybody else I wouldn't even give it a second thought but coming from you that kind of gesture is so unexpected that I just don't know what to make of it and don't take me wrong I'm not saying that it was inappropriate because it would never be coming from you but-"

"Emily."

The slow utterance of her first name stopped her mid-rambling and she released her breath as she met his gaze. He seemed perfectly calm and in control once more.

"Do you really need me to spell it out?" He might look and sound perfectly calm, but Emily saw how his eyes had darted down as he spoke. But a second later when they returned to her face her breath caught in her throat at the intensity.

If she had doubts before about JJ's theory, that one open and perfect look was enough to pulverize them. She felt herself flush under his gaze, but he was sitting still, his arms still crossed over his chest, patiently waiting for her reply. The only sign that this mattered to him was in the fact that he seemed to have stopped breathing.

"I guess it depends."

"On?" he pressed when she didn't elaborate. His tone was gentle but she could hear the apprehension behind it.

"On why you felt so guilty afterwards." She understood JJ's explanation about him having doubts and could even buy it, but for some reason she needed to hear at least that from him.

He let out a quick relieved and reluctant smile, as if this was a much easier question than whatever he had been expecting, but he soon returned to his previous serious state. But there was still a tiny trace of amusement in his tone when he replied. "This is _not _going to help my apology, but you could say… that it was a test of sort."

Okay, that was a surprise. "A test? Of my reaction?"

He managed to look sheepish and detached at once as he replied. "And mine."

"And, ah, what were the results of this experiment?" she asked in a small voice, and for some reason had trouble meeting his eyes for more than a second. But she did see his face long enough to notice the small smile at the corner of his lips before she looked down at her now cold food.

"A definite positive on both ends."

Emily didn't fight the heartfelt chuckle that escaped her. "God, I _know_, right?" Her outburst seemed to break the tension between them and the tiny quirk at the corner of his lips turned into a bigger smile at her reaction. Yes, she had definitely felt it too. She _had_ in fact known all along why he had touched her so tenderly, why he had picked that moment, and why he had acted so guiltily afterwards. She had just been fighting so hard against it all, against the mere idea of Hotch and Prentiss as more than colleagues, that she had almost believed a denial-based delusion of her own making. JJ had probably sensed it when she had told her to start thinking about how it had made her feel rather than wonder about his actions, because when Emily had told the story she had carefully left out any description of how it had felt to her. It was like she had known, deep down, that if she told JJ of her reactions and feelings, it would also put the responsibility on _her_.

"Do you still need me to tell you why I felt guilty?" he asked, much more relaxed now.

She had a pretty good idea, but nodded nonetheless as she leaned back in her chair and took a much needed sip of her beer. "Sure."

"When I reached to help you with your vest, I didn't expect the gesture to turn into anything more than it was, but it did, and at that moment I realized that I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Not because of you," he added quickly as if she thought that he was criticizing her temper or something, "but the whole situation… this is new to me, Prentiss, and the reality of it - our jobs, our working relationship, the Bureau policies, the team, my son – it all hit me square in the face just as I was having my first glimpse of what could be. And, after seeing your reaction, I had to try and stop this before it got out of hand." He rubbed his forehead as if thinking about it made his head ache. "That was my intention in coming here tonight. But I didn't expect you to acknowledge anything beyond the facts, and truth be told, I thought- I _expected_ you to be mad at me. You're entitled to be."

Emily slowly shook her head. "I'm not mad, Hotch." She smiled as she took another swig from her bottle. "But I must confess that you confused me out of my wits. Why couldn't you just go about this the way normal people do?" she asked teasingly.

He almost smiled. "And what way is that?"

She let out an exasperated sigh through her smile as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you telling me you don't know how to flirt, Agent Hotchner?"

He shrugged, but she could see that he was a little embarrassed by her teasing. "Apparently not."

"That's honest," she nodded as she gave him a teasingly impressed look. "And I will take note of that information for future reference. _Prefers action to words._" She said slowly, as if she was dictating words for herself to write down.

He smiled, somehow managing predatory and sheepish in one single quirk of the lips, but then turned serious once more and his eyes lowered to the table. She'd noticed that he did that when he had to ask a question that had the potential of making him appear vulnerable. It was one of those habits that were really sweet once you knew what they meant.

"Now, what?"

Emily sobered at this. She knew what she wanted to say, and she knew what she had to say, but she wasn't comfortable with either, so she shrugged as she reached for her beer bottle again. "You're the mastermind of this operation Hotch, you tell me."

He gave her a look.

Emily smiled a little sadly as she nodded. "I know." She leaned forward again, resting her arms on the table between them. "I have a suggestion, if you'd like to hear it."

"Please."

"Why don't we just leave things as they are for the moment? This is too big and too much of a surprise, of a shock really, to make any decisions right away, isn't it? So, how about we leave things as they are, and try to get used to the idea first… figure out what's really going on and what's really at stake. This is something that could hurt not only us, but a _lot_ of people around us. So… status quo?" She extended her hand over the table between them and couldn't help the shiver that ran up her spine when the warmth of his strong fingers surrounded hers and he shook her hand, smiling that sheepish/predatory smile again.

"That sounds reasonable," he said as his fingers lingered around hers, still shaking her hand slowly.

"Great," she said, and she blushed at the husky rasp in her voice.

"The hand holding isn't helping, is it?" he asked, sounding a little affected himself.

Emily laughed as she freed her hand. "No, it's not." She narrowed her eyes in conspiracy and leaned closer. "I kind of like it."

He smiled. "And I will take note of that information for future reference. _Likes that he prefers action to words._"

She laughed. "Well said, you have a steep learning curve Agent Hotchner."

He returned her smile as he quietly gazed at her for a few seconds. After a while he looked away and shifted in his seat. "You need a ride home? Or are you waiting for JJ to come back?"

"No, I'm good. But you should go, I know you've been looking forward to the weekend and the time to enjoy your son's company."

He nodded and made to rise, but then stopped and gave her another look. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'll just text JJ and make sure that we both get home safely."

"Do you want me to wait in case she's already left?"

Emily smiled at his concern. "No, really Hotch. I'll be fine. You go home, and I'll see you on Monday."

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night."

He rose and with one last parting look walked back the way he'd come. Emily sighed as she looked at her cold food. Waiving to the waitress, she asked for it to be reheated and as she left with her dish, Emily reached for her cell.

_Where the hell r u? _she texted with practiced fingers.

It took only a few seconds for her phone to bleep with a reply. _Took you long enough. Sitting 3 booths down from u. U ok?_

Emily smiled as she typed her response. "_Barely breathing. Get over here JJ, ur 4given._"

* * *

The End

Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading!


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